"A fresh voice in crime fiction. Fast, funny, heartbreaking and wise...Elouise Norton is the best new character you'll meet this year." —Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author, on Rachel Howzell Hall's Land of Shadows

Along the ever-changing border of gentrifying Los Angeles, seventeen-year-old Monique Darson is found dead at a condominium construction site, hanging in the closet of an unfinished unit. Homicide detective Elouise "Lou" Norton's new partner, Colin Taggert, fresh from the comparatively bucolic Colorado Springs police department, assumes it's a teenage suicide. Lou isn't buying the easy explanation.

For one thing, the condo site is owned by Napoleon Crase, a self-made millionaire. . .and the man who may have murdered Lou's missing sister, Tori, thirty years ago. As Lou investigates the death of Monique Darson, she uncovers undeniable links between the two cases. But her department is skeptical.

Lou is convinced that when she solves Monique's case she will finally bring her lost sister home. But as she gets closer to the truth, she also gets closer to a violent killer. After all this time, can he be brought to justice. . .before Lou becomes his next victim?

"Gives voice to a rare figure in crime fiction: a highly complex, fully imagined black female detective." - Kirkus Reviews, starred review on Trail of Echoes

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Praise for this book

"Lou . . . is a formidable fighter--someone you want on your side." --New York Times Book Review

"A fresh voice in crime fiction." --Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author

"Hall..has a true gift.”—Crimespree Magazine

“Another smart LA procedural…this determined African American protagonist makes a wonderful addition to the genre.”--Booklist on Trail of Echoes

“Hall outdoes her stellar debut in an exploration of vile secrets that pays homage to that earlier master of complex California homicide, Raymond Chandler.”—Kirkus Reviews on Skies of Ash

“Rachel Howzell has written another riveting thriller starring her favorite (and mine!) female sleuth, the fabulous when furious and even better when behaving Lou Norton…one of the summer's best.”—Huffington Post on Skies of Ash

"A racially explosive Los Angeles provides the backdrop for this exceptional crime novel...Dead-on dialogue and atmospheric details help propel a tale full of tormenting moral issues. Lou, a brave lady in a brave book, does the best she can." —Publishers Weekly, starred review on Land of Shadows




About the Author

RACHEL HOWZELL HALL is a writer/assistant development director at City of Hope, a national leader in cancer research and treatment. Her first novel, A Quiet Storm, received a starred review from Library Journal and was a featured selection for Borders' Original Voices program, as well as an alternate selection for Black Expressions book club. She lives in Los Angeles.


Title: Land of Shadows
Author(s): Rachel Howzell Hall
Volume: 1
ISBN: 9781466828193
Copyright 2014
Release Date: June 10, 2014
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group
Countries: United States, Canada | Learn more about available countries
Language: English
Format: mobi,ePub | Learn More about our supported formats
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